Heart Stop
by plantainfish
Summary: SBR crew decide to go on a road trip to visit Lucy


Gyro was already upset that Hot Pants was tagging along on the trip, so when Dio invited himself along, Johnny thought all hell was going to break loose. Luckily it didn't. Gyro just sulked the day before the trip. Hot Pants accidentally brought up the trip to visit Lucy while talking to Dio.

"Well, I'm a friend of Lucy, does that mean I can't tag along?" he said.

Hot Pants shrugged. She didn't want to be rude and tell Dio no. Plus Dio had already whipped out his phone and was texting Johnny how he was going on their unofficial roadtrip. After he sent the text, Dio started to go on about how inconsiderate it was not to at least ask if he wanted to go. Hot Pants forced a smile while her phone began to buzz with texts from Johnny. Nobody in their group was extremely fond of Dio, and since Hot Pants was the closest to Dio she was going to be the scapegoat.

The texts from Johnny read exactly as she thought they would. Even though they were chopped up into separate pieces, probably because Johnny was typing and sending before finishing his thought, the texts read along the lines of how dare you and Gyro is going to be angry. Hot Pants looked up from her phone at Dio standing next to her. She was getting chewed out on both ends. She slipped her phone into her pocket wishing she hadn't brought up the road trip but she didn't care at the same time. She just wanted to see Lucy again so she was willing to suffer a bit.

Johnny had been polite enough to ask Hot Pants to tag along. Gyro didn't seem too enthused, but he agreed that Lucy would be overjoyed to see Hot Pants again. So he said that he would allow Hot Pants to tag along if "he stayed in a separate room and paid for it with his own money."

"It's okay, Gyro, I had already planned to," Hot Pants responded.

Gyro never put two and two together and got four. He still assumed that Hot Pants was a boy with her androgynous clothing and strong jawline. She was only a few inches shorter than Gyro and she towered over both Dio and Johnny. When she would go to the store, the cashier normally would take a moment to reflect on whether to use "sir" or "ma'am" while addressing her. The cashiers normally opted for "sir" so Hot Pants got used to it. When Johnny texted her about the road trip, he suggested that he and Gyro could share a bed while she slept in the other. She turned down the offer so then Gyro wouldn't have to figure out that she was, well…, a she. Johnny shrugged from his wheelchair as if to say sorry, but Hot Pants didn't mind.

They had discussed the plans for the trip before Dio invited himself. Johnny had suggested it saying that he wanted to get away from the town for a while. Plus they hadn't seen Lucy in some time; Johnny just had to call her and she eagerly agreed to let them stay at her house for a couple of nights. Gyro tolerated Lucy and he said he could have deal with not seeing her, but he had been itching for a scenic trip through the countryside, so he jumped on the offer. Then Johnny had asked Hot Pants and the rest was history.

Like Gyro, Hot Pants could have rather not dealing with him but she missed Lucy. She thought about the girl's soft blonde hair. When Lucy would look at Hot Pants, she would melt on the inside. With those eyes, Hot Pants quietly decided that she would protect this girl with her life. Hot Pants was even ready to take the charge of murder if that meant saving Lucy. But that is a story from a different universe.

Hot Pants finally checked back into her one sided conversation with Dio. He was staring at her intently.

"What?" she asked.

"I asked you what day we're leaving for the trip and where."

"Look I'll text you the info, I got somewhere to be," she responded. "I'll see ya then Dio."

She timed her escape with the crosswalk lights. She waited for a few seconds before the green man appeared and the beeping sounds started. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and texted a simple "sorry" to Johnny.

The day of the road trip came quickly. Gyro said he would be the one to drive since he didn't want Johnny to be stressed out and he couldn't trust neither Hot Pants nor Dio to drive safely.

"They might try to kill me if one of them drive." Hot Pants overheard Gyro saying that to Johnny while she threw her knapsack in the back of Gyro's 2002 Volvo.

They had met up at the parking lot to one of the local grocery stores. Gyro had picked Johnny up from his house. His excuse was that he didn't know where Hot Pants' and Dio's houses were. Once again Johnny gave a shrug because he knew where Hot Pants lived. She had invited him over once before for a study session before one of the big tests. It was actually Lucy's idea to invite Johnny to study. So after that, Johnny became friendlier towards her. After that, she expected Gyro to be nicer to her. At the church on campus, Gyro and Hot Pants would exchange simple "hellos" and "peace be with your spirit" during mass. After she accidentally invited Dio along, Gyro pretended not to see her during mass.

They waited about 40 minutes before Dio showed up. He slammed the door to his new Maxima and hauled a large suitcase over. He didn't once say sorry for being late which rubbed Gyro the wrong way. With the bags and Johnny's wheelchair in the trunk, they piled into the car.

Gyro jerked his thumb to the backseat when Dio tried to sit in shotgun. "Johnny is sitting there, so don't push your luck."

And that was about it for the conversation of the car ride. The closest they came around to talking was when Hot Pants pulled out a packet of gum and asked if anyone else wanted a piece. Dio took two pieces, Johnny took one and folded up the wrapper for later use, and Gyro turned down the offer.

"You think I'm gonna poison you with a piece of gum or something?" Hot Pants half jokingly said.

"Nah, I'm just… I'm just not that fond of gum," Gyro said.

He took his sunglasses from the clip on the sun visor and put them on. Hot Pants took out a piece and stuffed it in her mouth. She stared at Gyro's reflection in the rearview mirror thinking about how she was probably right and he didn't want to admit it.

They continued to drive on until the sun began to sit low in the sky. The landscape had not changed much during the trip. It was mostly fields with a few scattered trees. Hot Pants had taken to imagining herself jumping from the telephone poles that ran alongside the road. Gyro had his AC/DC cd playing on loop the whole ride. And when the song "Ballbreaker" would come on, he played it twice. After the first time it played, he looked at the duo in the backseat and simply commented, "If you two try to do anything funny on this trip, I'll break your balls too." Hot Pants looked back out the window while Dio told Gyro to go to Hell.

The AC didn't work too well in the car, so the drive out there basically was hell. It started off tolerable at first but then it became pronounced a few hours in. Hot Pants fanned at herself while Johnny lower his window a bit. The two back windows were child locked and when Dio brought that up, Gyro just turned the music up louder. A little later on, Gyro opened up the sun roof. They welcomed the new air current but the sun roof let the sun straight into the car. Even though there was air moving, the sun hit Hot Pants on her legs. She shifted trying to hide behind the little bit of shade behind the passenger seat.

The crew got out of the car at a cheap motel. Hot Pants was grateful for the cooler air. Even though the sun had setted, you could still feel the heat radiating off of the blacktop. It was cooler than the inside of the car though. She looked at her legs and there was already a tan line from her cargo shorts. Dio's face was a bit pink from the sun but his right arm was red.

When making the plans ahead of time, Gyro had planned on doing the whole drive in a day, but Johnny had advised against it. He had placed two rooms on hold for them. But now that Dio tagged along, there was a problem. At the reception desk, the receptionist informed them that all rooms were booked for the night.

"Well then Dio, I guess you have to sleep outside 'cause you sure as hell aren't sleeping in my car," Gyro smirked.

"I'd rather sleep out here. Your car is a damn oven. I have sweat dripping down my back and I'm sunburnt. Shit, Johny's fingernail polish probably melted off during the drive over here," Dio retorted.

Hot Pants stood uncomfortably. She too was covered from head to toe in sweat. She had taken to wiping her forehead on her shirt and there was a wet mark from all the sweat. Her legs stuck together from the sweat so she had to awkwardly shift from side to side. All she wanted to do was jump into the shower and change into a fresh pair of clothes.

"Look, Dio can stay in my room with me. I don't want to fight about this. I just want to shower and sleep," she said.

"I got a room with one bed for you Hot Pants," Johnny said.

"Well then I'll ask the clerk if they can bring a cot to my room."

The rooms were right next to each other. Hot Pants had the keycard and opened the door. She told Johnny and Gyro night and said that yes she and Dio would both be bright eyed and ready to leave tomorrow morning. The receptionist also said that there was a cot available and that someone would bring it soon.

"The bed is mine because I paid for the room ok," Hot Pants told Dio as soon as they walked into the room.

She threw her stuff on the bed and began to figure out what she was wearing for tomorrow's trip. She had decided on some lighter clothes so she wouldn't be absolutely drenched by the time they got to Lucy's house. She pulled out her toiletry bag when there was a knock on the door. Dio sat in one of the ugly chairs in the corner of the room.

"You know this is kind of romantic," he said. "Just the two of us…"

Hot Pants eyed him. She continued to get ready for bed thinking that if she ignored then maybe he would shut up.

"Remember that one time when we kissed?" It was more like a statement than an actual question.

"It's hard to forget when you bring it up like that," she snapped.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when he placed his arms on her shoulder. Dio placed his head on her back since he was too small to lay his head on her shoulders. She instinctively pulled herself away. Dio took a step closer to her and she responded with a slap. The sound of the slap resonated throughout the room. They held each other's gaze. Dio's mouth hung open with disbelief. Hot Pants was ready to grab her stuff and storm into Johnny and Gyro's room. She was prepared to tell Gyro that she was really a girl and she couldn't stay in the same room as Dio because of that. Each of her muscles tensed but Dio finally looked away when there was a knock on the door. It was one of the workers with the cot. Dio showed him where to place it and thanked the worker.

"Hey, uh…, sorry about that… I just thought you still liked me," Dio muttered.

There was a silence between the two. It hung heavily before Hot Pants broke it.

"Are you gonna shower?" she asked.

"No, what's the point if I'm just gonna sweat again in that car from Hell," he sat on the cot and promptly took off his shoes and socks, "Gross, even my socks are wet."

Hot Pants stared at him with mild disgust. She didn't truly care what Dio did because at least he wasn't sharing the bed with her. He seemed to shrink and recoil from her after what just happened. Dio probably figured that Hot Pants could easily break him if need be.

She hopped in the shower after making that the door would lock. She trusted Dio but in the back of her mind, the infamous scene from Hitchcock's _Psycho_ played. She tried not to take too long in the shower, but the cool water felt so nice against her skin. She thought about how Dio mentioned to her one time how would he was wondering if Lucy would give him a kiss.

"She's such a cutie, shame she's only 14," he said covering part of his mouth with the red plastic cup. "If she was older, I'd love to love her."

"Well she isn't. If you lay a hand on her, I'll beat the living daylights out of you," Hot Pants responded. She stared down at her own drink. She thought about whether or not Lucy had difficulties adjusting to a college at her age. Everyone else was so much older than her. It was this age gap that made Hot Pants want to shield and protect her.

When she got out of the shower Dio was already fast asleep. He hadn't even bothered to get under the sheets. Hot Pants gave a small smile. In his sleep, Dio looked like he was content for once. She knelt beside the bed and pulled out her rosary. She went through the decades muttering her prayers as she went. After she said "Salve Regina" and made the sign of the Cross, Hot Pants decided to go buy a bottle of water from the vending machine by the stairs.

The lights to Johnny and Gyro's room were dark, or at least from what Hot Pants could see from the outside. Their curtains had a slight gap and it was still dark from what she could tell. She wanted to tell Johnny about happened between her and Dio but she figured she could hold onto it until later. The vending machine gave off a faint reddish glow from the stairwell. She gave it her dollar twenty five for a water bottle. She took a swig and started to head back to her room.

"Yo," it was Gyro. He leaning against the railing staring down into the parking lot. He had seen Hot Pants pause in front of their room so he decided to come out. "Can I bum a cigarette?"

"No," Hot Pants leaned her back against the cool metal railing, "since when do you smoke?"

"I don't. I'd figure I'd ask since you had a packet of gum earlier."

"So you equate chewing gum with cigarettes?"

"Not really. I guess you can technically chew both."

Hot Pants nodded and took another sip from her water. She briefly considered telling Gyro about her and Dio, but he would probably take it the wrong way. Or he'd laugh it off saying that he always knew that she and Dio were "gay" even though they technically weren't. Plus she would have to explain that she was a girl and Gyro had slight misogynistic tendencies.

"Anyway, I was just making sure you weren't sabotaging my car. I'll see ya in the morning HP. Peace be with ya," Gyro said. He went back into his room giving her a small wave before closing the door.

Hot Pants continued to stand outside a little while longer. There was a slight breeze and the light pollution only allowed a small handful of stars to be seen. She tried to use her hand to block out the light from one of the lamp posts below but it didn't really help. She finished her water then decided to go to bed.

Dio was awake when she got in the room. He watched her come in and set the alarm on her phone for the morning through half closed eyes. He spoke when Hot Pants reached to turn off the lamp on the nightstand. She tensed up and continued to look at the lamp.

"So you didn't run away to their room?" he asked.

"No…"

"Oh… ok. Sorry about earlier again. I just thought… Night Hot Pants."

"Night Dio."

She turned off the lamp. She stuffed her rosary underneath her pillow to ensure that she would have good dreams for the night. Dio had fallen back asleep after she turned off the light. The lamppost from outside let in a little bit of light so Hot Pants could see him. He slept with his mouth slightly ajar and one hand on his stomach. Eventually her eyelids grew heavy so she rolled over and went to sleep.


End file.
